Crystalised Stars
by BeingMexoxo
Summary: "And you've got the faith that I could bring paradise." The one thing Gemma Tonks hadn't realized upon the engagement of her brother and Andromeda Black was that her family was now a part of the Tonks's - including Sirius Black, who loved to show up at their flat beaten and bruised.
1. Chapter 1

I woke up to the sound of harsh banging on the apartment door. Seeing as my brother and his fiance were on a date night and obviously not home (as if Andromeda would allow such hard knocking on her freshly painted door) I forced myself to roll out of my bed and stumble into the living room. The only light I had was from the bulb over the door that flickered for some reason that not even magic could fix. With sleep heavy eyes, I fumbled with the lock and opened the door - only to be punched right in the nose.

That really woke me up. I fell back onto the floor, gasping in pain as I felt something slick roll down my lips, and I heard someone shout out a "fuck!" before bending down beside me. My eyes watered as the stranger lifted me up bridal style and carried me further into the house. The person holding me kept grunting and even through my pain filled brain I found that as an insult. I wasn't that heavy, for crying out loud! I was placed on the couch, there was blinding light, and my nose snapped back into place.

"I'm going to kill you," I groaned, holding my nose. "Whoever you are, I'm going to kill you."

"I really _am_ sorry! I didn't hear the door open and I was going to knock again."

"What type of knocking is that? You were bloody pounding the door down."

" _I said I was sorry!"_ The voice cried hysterically.

I finally dropped my hands and opened my eyes, coming into contact with familiar grey eyes. I reeled back in shock, too absorbed in the fact that I was only wearing a baggy t-shirt with _no bra,_ to realize that Sirius Black was also bleeding. I cried out in horror and hurriedly pulled my knees to my chest, scooting away from him.

"How do you know where I live?" I screamed, blindly waving a clenched fist in his direction. Shocked at my sudden attack, Black fell on his arse and hurriedly scooted away from my line of fire.

"I didn't know you lived here! I'm looking for my cousin!"

I froze mid swing, "Andromeda?"

"Yes! Where is she?" He looked hopefully around the vacant flat.

"She's on a date with my brother," I said, calming down. I finally took him in. "What happened to you?"

Black gave me a blank look, obviously not going to tell me. He had a bleeding lip, a black eye, and his clothes were torn. His hair stuck to his forehead with sweat and he truly looked like he fought a war before getting to my doorstep. He didn't even have any shoes on.

"Okay then," I rubbed at the drying blood on my lip. "Do you know any Healing spells?"

"I'm not very good at them." He didn't look very happy telling me this.

"Okay, let me get my wand and I'll fix you up. If 'Dromeda sees you like that she'll have a heart attack." I said, awkwardly standing so that I was holding my shirt over my arse before running out of the living room and down the hall.

Once in my room, I took a deep breath and held back my scream. Sirius bloody Black was in my house! Not only was he the most popular boy at school but he was also very nice to look at. I had seen him countless times hanging around Lily Evans - another popular girl in school - and he was notorious for his pranks on Slytherin. I quickly yanked off my blood stained sleep shirt, put a bra on, and got into my Hufflepuff sweats and a tank top. Although I wished I had made a better impression on Black, there was no time to get dolled up for him. Wasting no more time, I snatched my wand off my bed side table and rushed back out to the living room.

He had moved so he was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. Hearing me enter, he looked up and tried to smile but winced from the pain in his lip. Fighting off the blush rising on my cheeks, I crouched in front of him and grabbed his face, making sure my wand tip was level to his upper lift. I concentrated on the first healing spell to come to me and was pleased to see that it healed perfectly.

"Thanks," Black said, popping his lips and smiling. My heart sped up and my face grew hot. "Er, what's your name?"

I wasn't surprised, "Gemma Tonks."

"Nice to meet you, sorry for punching you. I'm Sirius Black. Andromeda's cousin." He introduced, although it wasn't necessary. I smiled in return and focused on his black eye.

"They won't be back 'till morning. You can sleep in their room, I'm sure 'Dromeda won't mind." I said once I finished with his eye. It was still visible but less bruised. Bruises like that were hard to heal.

"Thanks, Gemma." Black went to stand but toppled onto me, groaning in pain.

I squeaked in shock and quickly rolled him off of me. I expected him to play it off but instead he panted for breath, his eyes squeezed shut in pain, and his hands pressed onto his stomach. Without asking for permission, I flicked my wand and his shirt cut perfectly in the middle. Any girl would love to be in my position, to see Sirius Black's infamous abs, but all I could see were deep gashes that were bleeding heavily. I gasped in horror and thought of every healing spell I had learned - none were meant to fix this type of wound.

"We have to go to the hospital," I stuttered, hands hovering over his wounds helplessly. "I can't heal this!"

"No," He gasped. "I can't. Call 'Dromeda."

"Black-"

"CALL HER!" He roared, making me jump in fear.

With a small nod of compliance, I hurried to my feet and ran to my bedroom where I had left my cell phone. Ted had bought it for me when I was younger but I only used it when I was home from school, since Hogwarts had no reception. With shaking fingers, I dialed my brother's number and hurried back to Black. He was trying to sit up and I shoved him by the shoulders back down. He tried to fight me but in his weakened state there was nothing he could. Instead, Black glared at me, his face seeming to lose color every second.

"This better be important, Gemma." Ted growled when he answered on the fifth ring.

"Ted, I- I need you and 'Dromeda to come home. Sirius is here!"

"Who?"

"Sirius Black! Her cousin, Ted!"

"Serious what?"

" _What about Sirius?_ " I heard Andromeda say in the background before her voice was considerably closer. "Gemma, what's wrong?"

"Sirius, he's hurt bad and he won't let me take him to the hospital. You need to come home, I don't know any spells for this!" I was on the verge of tears. Black was staring up at me but his eyes were dazed. I doubted he could hear a single thing I was saying. "Hurry!"

"We're on our way." Andromeda said before hanging up. Not a minute later she and Ted came through the front door that was still open.

I was pushed to the side as Andromeda took my spot, cradling Black's head as she inspected him. I backed off, my back bumping into Ted's chest. He rubbed my arms in comfort, looking awkward as he watched his fiance dote over Black, her fingers running over his gashes and taking out her wand and waving it in a complicated way.

"I'm, uh," I cleared my throat, not meeting Ted's eyes as I began to drift towards my room. "I'm going to bed."

Ted nodded before walking towards the linen closet to get blankets to wrap around Black. Once in my room, I leaned against the door and closed my eyes. The bloody idiot had picked me up with all those wounds . . . I wiped at the tears that managed to fall and yanked off my clothes, once again stained with blood. My heart was still racing but this time not from Black looking amazing. I had been too wrapped up in his looks to notice how pale he was or that he grimaced with every word he had said.

Falling into my bed, I tried to fall asleep but it was difficult. I could hear nothing from the living room and as much as I wanted to go out and see what was happening, it wasn't my place. Ted was probably in his room as well; Andromeda had a way of ignoring people when she was in stressful situations. I tossed and turned for a while before finally succumbing to a horrible night of sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

There were fifteen minutes of blissful unawareness as I stumbled to the bathroom to begin my usual morning routine of washing my face. I dabbed my face dry and inspected my face for blemishes, freezing when I noticed that my nose was horribly crooked. It was then that everything came rushing to the forefront of my mind; Sirius Black breaking my nose and not ten minutes later admitting that he was bad with healing spells.

I had no doubt in my mind that Andromeda had healed Sirius. Although she was four years older than me at twenty and had no healing experience, I always had a feeling that she knew more than Hogwarts had taught. There was a look in her eyes sometimes that gave the impression that she's seen more than anyone should've at her age. There were rumors at school about the Pureblood families having barbaric punishments and Andromeda came from one of the most ancient Pureblood families. I didn't want to think anymore of what she had to go through.

There was a loud bang on the bathroom door and the sound I made was shameful. Ted's booming laugh was proof as it receded down the hall, "Andy, you should've heard the sound Gemma made!"

Furiously, I followed him down the hallway, "You git! Honestly, is there a day you could go without terrorizing me?"

"You're just mad that I surprised you." He taunted, reaching over a sleep deprived Andromeda to grab himself a mug. She barely acknowledged him before turning back to wash something in the sink.

"Or perhaps I'm mad due to the fact that you find amusement in scaring me all the time." I said dryly, placing my hands on my hips and staring him down.

"Drama queen." Ted sang, sitting at the table and devouring his cereal.

"Ugh."

"It's always like this, Sirius," Andromeda said softly, walking to the couch. I finally noticed that there was a blanket caterpillar on the couch, grey eyes with dark purple circles surrounding them peering out tiredly. "They'll be quiet from now on."

I felt horrible for not immediately asking how he was. Ted glanced worriedly at the duo before placing his cup in the sink and grabbing his suitcase, ready for work.

"I'll be heading out, now."

Andromeda hummed and with a last look at me, Ted left for his eight hour work shift. Then it was it was the three of us. I didn't know what to do with myself; I wanted to go and ask Sirius how he was feeling. Andromeda seemed to be in her own world coddling Sirius and I didn't want to impose.

The caterpillar moved and more of Sirius's head was visible, "Hey Gemma, thanks for last night." His voice sounded rough.

"Oh yeah, no problem." I waved it off, biting the inside of my lip.

"You did well on his face," Andromeda said, pushing clumps of his hair back to see better. "But healing spells can only go so far. I need to go to Diagon Alley to grab ingredients to make potions."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

She nodded solemnly and stood up, "I'll only be an hour at most. While I'm gone I need you to watch him and make sure he eats all of his soup."

"I'm not a child." Sirius grumbled.

Andromeda shushed him and stood, heading to her bedroom to change. The last thing I wanted was for Andromeda to go to Diagon Alley alone. In the past two years it seemed that every dark wizard had decided to come out of their shadows and begin their revolution on blood purity. Muggle borns and half bloods were dying left and right, along with anyone who associated themselves with muggle rights.

Not only had Andromeda turned her back on the Black beliefs, she had also married a muggle. I was positive that someone wanted her dead.

Diagon Alley wasn't like how it had been three years ago. No one went there anymore, the shops burned to the ground, and spies hiding in the shadows. It was a risk to go anywhere in the magical communities. There was no trust between friends and family anymore.

I glanced at Sirius. He had slouched down the couch and had his back to me, no doubt trying to sleep. Had a Death Eater, one of the blood purists, attacked him? Or had he been subjected to one of the Black's punishments? It was no secret that he was anti-Death Eater and had friends from all sorts of backgrounds.

"I'll be back." Andromeda passed me, her cloak already on and her hair down to cover her face.

I followed her to the front door, "You shouldn't go alone. Sirius can stay here alone and I'll come with-"

"It's not safe for you, dear," Andromeda squeezed my shoulder, her maternal side showing. "You're muggle born and will be killed instantly if someone saw you."

I fell silent and she took her leave. With my chest heavy with worry, I headed back to the living room. In the three minutes I had been gone, Sirius had ridden himself of the blankets and was sitting up right on the couch. It looked like he had been ran over by a herd of hippogriffs.

"She'll be fine. Andromeda can kick some serious arse." He said.

"Okay." I knew Andromeda could handle her own, but against how many?

"Yep."

Awkward silence ensued. I tapped on my leg before huffing, "So... What happened to you?"

He shrugged, "The usual," His eyes flickered to my book bag that laid beside the bookcase, Hufflepuff stickers and pins on it. One pin had a badger yawning as it got ready for its afternoon nap. "Have you finished your school work yet?"

I wanted to ask more questions but succumbed to his wish to change subject, "Not even close. I barely started Potions last week." What did he mean by _the usual_? Did I even want to know?

"I don't know what Slughorn was thinking with assigning us to make our own type of love potion. I barely have enough time to sit down and write Minnie's three scroll essay." He whined.

I raised an eyebrow, "Minnie?"

"McGonnagall. The lads and I call her that because it annoys her to death. I have a great idea!" He sat up straighter. "Let's do our homework."

"Sirius Black willingly doing his homework? I may not be in your house but even _I_ know that's unheard of."

"I have nothing else to do." He said flippantly.

I shuffled to sit on the floor beside Sirius, grabbing extra parchment and handing it to him. I took out the prompt of McGonnagall's essay and for the next hour we diligently worked. It took my mind off of Andromeda and evil family members. I understood why Sirius wanted to do this; it probably helped him forget about the pain he was in.

I was broken from my second page when the front door opened and a rosy cheeked Andromeda stepped through, her arms full of paper bags. With a flick of her wand the ingredients were sorted and placed in their cabinets.

"Come help me, Gemma."

I had no problem leaving Sirius to do his homework. I grabbed the cauldron from the entertainment center that Ted absolutely had to have - even though we had no television set. Andromeda had easily transfigured the hunk of wood into a potions cabinet where her cauldron, ingredients, and other witchy things that gave Ted the creeps resided.

"I can help also!" Sirius grunted, trying to stand by himself.

"You can barely stand." Andromeda scolded and she didn't even have to push him back onto the couch - he wobbled on his two feet for a second before falling back. He scowled darkly and crossed his arms.

"What can I do?" I asked, leaning on the counter and peering at the things she was pulling out.

"Well," She huffed, frustrated. "I was going to make a Blood Replenishing Potion but it slipped my mind that I had to let it sit for thirty two days before it would actually be finished. So we'll just be making a simple Wound Healing Potion."

"I'm fine, 'Dromeda!" Sirius called from the living room. "No need to make anything else. Actually, I'm feeling so good that I can go home now."

I looked back to see Sirius trying to stand, holding the arm of the couch as a crutch. He was mental if he thought he could actually leave the apartment - either his legs would give way or Andromeda would bind him and leave him on the couch. I had to admit, he was very stubborn. He looked to be in extreme pain but wasn't letting it get him down.

"Alright." Andromeda replied, still adding ingredients onto the counter beside the cauldron.

"Uh, 'Dromeda? You're not really going to let him go, are you?" I asked worriedly. I held tightly onto the counter to keep myself from darting to Sirius's side; he was shaking like a leaf.

"If he wants to leave, he can."

"That's...the...spirit..." Sirius was five feet from the door and leaning against the wall.

I looked between the cousins in horror. How could she let him leave? He looked like he was going to die! Was this some sort of power struggle?

Sirius gasped suddenly and dropped to the floor: he'd passed out.

"Merlin!" I gaped, pulling out my wand.

Andromeda hadn't looked up, "I knew he wasn't going to get to the door. His wounds are too severe and aren't even healed yet. I had temporarily closed them... but they're dark magic and no doubt opened again," She looked at me with clouded eyes. "Levitate him onto the couch and come help me make the potion. We'll need at least four vials to heal the ones on his chest."

I did as she said. I began to stir in the phoenix feather for the potion when Andromeda _accio_ 'd a second cauldron, "We'll need a Numbing Drought as well. He'll be in horrible pain when he wakes up."

I swallowed thickly, "Did Death Eaters get him, 'Dromeda?"

"No. His mother did."


	3. Chapter 3

Sirius wasn't asleep for long. It only took thirty minutes before he was screaming torture, clutching at his chest and withering on the couch in pain. I broke a vial of the Healing Potion in shock, wincing when a large chunk of glass cut me on the thumb.

"Gemma, get that Numbing drought!" Andromeda had began to do a series of silencing charms around the apartment. The last thing we needed were muggle police showing up.

I only needed to let it turned violet before it was finished. I tried to will it to go faster, my hands shaking as Sirius's screams reached a new level. I felt useless as I stared at the dark blue liquid as it bubbled, as if taunting me with its slowness. It was impossible to block out his screams.

"Gemma!" Andromeda barked.

"I-I can't make it go faster!" I nearly cried at the pressure. Why couldn't I have finished this earlier? I tugged at my hair; the potion was slowly turning purple but not quite violet.

One more second...

"Just take a deep breath, Gemma."

The drought was finished. With unsteady hands I hurriedly filled a vial and ran to Sirius's side. He was rolling back and forth, curled in on himself, with his eyes closed. It was like he couldn't hear me when I called his name repeatedly. I touched his arm tentatively and it was the worst thing I could've done.

He lashed out, hitting me in the face. Andromeda shouted something and then he wasn't moving: a body bind. I took my chance and pried his jaw open - he had been grinding his teeth together - and made sure that he swallowed every last drop of the drought.

I fell back as his screams began to die into whimpers and then silence. My heart was pounding hard against my chest, my ears ringing. I didn't know I was bleeding until Andromeda was turning my head to face her.

"Your lip is bleeding, dear."

I blindly wiped at it and winced at the sting. She grabbed a vial of the Healing potion and used a rag to dab the clear paste onto my bottom lip. There was no pain as grey smoke rose from my wound. Andromeda leaned back to inspect it before nodding, "Perfect."

I felt like I had taken the drought. I sat on the floor as Andromeda moved to take off Sirius's shirt. How could a mother do this to her child? Whatever curse that vile woman (how could I call her his mother after this?) had used on him had left a poison in his body - or so Andromeda had explained to me. The Numbing Drought would last a day or two and allow her to withdraw the poison and heal his wounds without him feeling a thing.

Thank Merlin because I wouldn't be able to handle another screaming Sirius. I don't think Sirius could put up with another round of that pain either.

"Gemma," Andromeda was inspecting a nasty gash below Sirius's collarbone. It made me sick to see what she had done to him. "I need to wet the rag with the potion and when you see the blood turn bright red immediately dab it. Do you understand?"

I shakily nodded and crawled so I was beside her. Andromeda traced her wand over the wound and muttered words under her breath. The words sounded foreign and had a musical tone to it, like she was singing a lullaby. Black puss oozed out of the cut and I gagged, wanting nothing more than to turn away. The black disappeared and red flowed out. I gently dabbed at the cut.

Grey smoke raised like from my lip but this time it made a hissing noise. I looked at Andromeda, panicked that I had made a mistake, but she encouraged me to keep going. Once the smoke evaporated I lifted the rag to see that cut completely gone. There wasn't even a scar.

We continued to do this for the twelve other cuts on his torso. When we finished with a cut the healed skin would turn a healthy pink color, a good sign according to Andromeda. We had healed the last wound just as the sky began to darken.

"I'll clean up. You go take a shower," She said tiredly, wiping at her brow. The spell must've taken a lot out of her. When I stood to leave she grabbed my wrist, giving me a soft smile. "You did well, Gemma."

I nodded stiffly and headed to the bathroom. It was easy to keep thoughts of Sirius out of my head as I wiped at the black on my finger nails; it had gotten on my hand as did his blood. When I realized this I couldn't hold back my urge to puke.

Was this war? I knew that Death Eaters were attacking people but I had just thought that they killed them. What about the ones who had made it out? Were they cursed like Sirius? And all the kids I went to school with; did they have to put up with their parents bigoted views and punishment? It made my head ache.

I stared at my reflection; my nose was still crooked. I was the same as I had been in the morning yet I felt like I had aged years. Did a Healer do this constantly? And the Aurors, did they go through this pain?

Ted was home when I came out of my bedroom. Sirius was still asleep, the blanket pulled to his neck. Ted had bought pizza for us to eat.

"How was your day?" He asked. "It looks like he slept all day."

I didn't want to remember what happened today, let alone talk about it. Andromeda shared my idea, "Oh, it was fine. He did."

"Good, good. Andy, you'll never believe what I did today. I was such a fool, I had _tripped_ in front of my boss and spilled his coffee all over his shirt! I'm such a klutz."

* * *

I spent the next day by Sirius. I did the rest of my Transfiguration and Charms essays. It was the most productive I had been all summer. I had even made Andromeda breakfast, which she had been grateful for.

All we could do was wait for Sirius to wake up.

"Ugh, fuck."

Sirius rolled over and held his head between his hands. I jumped in shock and spun to stare incredulously at him. He looked tons better than the last time he had been awake; the dark circles beneath his eyes were gone, he had color in his cheeks, and he managed to sit up without wincing.

"Language." I said without thinking.

He looked down at me and I realized just how close I was. I had sat on the floor with my back against the couch, my head only inches away from his chest.

"All you have to say to me is 'language'? After my near death experience I don't get a love confession or anything?" He joked.

I laughed before shaking my head, "I'm more into the nerdy type, sorry."

"So she _can_ joke."

"Did you think I couldn't?" I asked, slightly hurt.

"Just surprised is all."

I stared at him, trying to read his face, but he gave me a goofy grin before raising his arms over his head and stretching. I turned back around and called for Andromeda.

"Is everything okay?" She asked worriedly. Then she caught sight of Sirius sitting up and smiled happily. "Oh good! Here, Gemma made breakfast," She levitated a plate to him. "And after you eat you can take a shower. Then back onto the couch."

"How long am I stuck on couch arrest?" He then laughed. "Get it, like house arrest?"

I snickered, "So he _can_ make bad jokes."

He looked scandalized and Andromeda chuckled, "Just for the rest of the week, Sirius. Then you go back to James's."

Sirius made sure to tap me on the head as he stood - albeit wobbly - and I scowled up at him. While he took a shower, Andromeda had me make lunch and she grabbed more pillows and blankets for Sirius. It was a relief to see him looking better. Yesterday, I had had my doubts about whether he would come out of this unscathed. It had been brutal to see, I could only imagine what he had felt.

It definitely made the house feel less suffocating now that he was walking and trying to make jokes.

* * *

Sirius made the week go by faster than usual.

We spent the mornings together talking and doing homework here and there. I had actually finished my summer homework weeks before school starter - that was a first. I usually did it all the week before the first day.

Sirius was a joker who hated to be waited on. Although he was usually laid back and I could talk to him like I would to my best friends, he had a very short temper. Whenever Andromeda and I tried to help him or coddled him he'd lash out. I understood that he didn't like it but even he must know that there were somethings he couldn't do so soon after recovering.

Andromeda had tried to explain it to him, "You can't push your body like this, Sirius. It could have long lasting-"

"I'm not a baby! I can do things by myself." And that's how it went.

Ted didn't like Sirius being around the house. We all knew that by "house" he meant me. When Ted came home from work he'd ask me to come shopping with him or make me clean my room, anything to get me out of the living room. Andromeda found it funny so she didn't help and instead offered up chores for me to do.

The traitor.

It wasn't like I _liked_ Sirius. He was funny and all but I'd seen him around his friends. He wasn't a nice person to everyone. All though I tried to keep the thought away, I wondered if he was only talking to me because he had to. There was no way to tell if he actually liked my friendship and I wasn't going to ask.

The only way to find out was on the first day of school. I dreaded the day.

"Is anyone there?" Sirius knocked on my head. I scowled and slapped at his hand.

"Abusive much?"

He shrugged, "You dozed out for a second there. Thought I bored you."

"You did."

He didn't look amused, "I thought Hufflepuffs were supposed to be friendly."

"It's because I'm spending too much time with you." I huffed. I wasn't in the mood to talk anymore, not after I thought about what would happen between us. I had no doubt that I wouldn't speak to Sirius after he left.

"That's not a bad thing! I've been told that I am an amazing person by many." He boasted.

"Okay."

He pouted and once again hit me on the back of the head. I tried to convince myself that once he left I wouldn't miss him. I doubt he'd think much of me anyway, not with his Marauder friends waiting for him.

* * *

I woke up Monday morning to find Sirius gone.


End file.
